Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

Hi guys, I just recently purchased a 86 Honda Spree. The previous owner says he put a new carb in it last summer. It seems to run great and always starts on the first kick. But when i get on it and start driving it dies like it cant handle the weight. it will rev up and sound great when its up on the kickstand though. It is pretty cold outside (around 25 degrees Fahrenheit) but I store the spree inside my apartment so i don't know if the cold weather is effecting it.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Greetings:

Cold should have little effect. I see a carb inspection at least in your future. The P.O. may not have installed the "new" carb correctly, or some other issue - such as fuel evaporation - could have occurred to clog that tiny Pilot circuit. The fact that it always starts easily suggests this is nothing major. Check the bystarter according to the procedures found in the Manuals section of this forum. Oh, and welcome!

Thanks for the Welcome!

I checked the bystarter and everything seemes to be fine. I did notice that I didn't have the air filter in when I was taking it out for a first run (I had cleaned it and just forgot to put it back in) The cover was on but just no filter. I don't know if that could have effected it but i'm going to take it out again tomorrow and give it a go.

Greetings:

Sprees are legendary in their sensitivity and persnickitiness pertaining to intake restriction, or lack thereof. A clean, well-oiled filter element will very likely resolve your issue. If air is admitted too freely, the tiny carb circuits cannot supply enough fuel for efficient combustion. It's an issue when Performance-crazed modders try to open up airflow with pod filters and such. Stick around, you'll learn some tricks.

So I thought when I put the Air filter back in it had fixed the problem. Well turns out it's still doing the same thing. Once my Spree revs up to about 5-10 mph it just dies, before it gets to its peak acceleration point. It starts great and idles just fine. I've adjusted the carb a little bit by making sure the idle is set correctly. i tightened the middle screw and then backed it out 1.5 turns and completely tightened the bottom screw. I did notice that a tube or some thick wire is not attached to anything and it seems to be coming from the clutch case (i think its the clucth case?). I've included a link to some pictures. The moped is pretty dirty as im assuming the kid I bought it from decided to off road it? I'm slowly resoring it and have all the plastic restored... just need to wait for it to warm up outside so I can wash it down Any help or suggestions would be great guys, thanks!

Ive included a link to pictures of the broken tube/wire. I cannot figure out what it is for.


http://s305.photobucket.com/albums/nn21 ... a%20Spree/

Greetings:

The transmission needs venting so that heat doesn't pressurize the cavity and pop the gasket. That tube provides it. Just tuck it into the hollow below the airbox.

It still sounds like that carb needs attention. See Tech Docs Carb Cleaning Consolidated for a look at what's involved.

Ok, So i finally got around to cleaning the carb! The carb is completely cleaned out and it still continues to start and idle just great. But still once i hit about 5-10 mph it dies. It seem likes its filling the carb up with fuel too slowly. I can accelerate very quickly and it'll die faster or i can just give it a little bit of throttle and its will run a little longer but move slower and eventually die. Could this be a petcock issue? Thanks for the help!

-Jake

w/ these simple 2 stroke engines, its always(almost) an easy fix.
most of the problems are carb related(or electrical).

does your problem only occur when you give it more than half throttle?
when i first got my spree, i couldnt figure out why it was dying.
so, i kept fiddling around w/ the air screw, and soon enough, it ran perfectly.

here's what i did(it may help you).

i carried a small screwdriver around w/ me, i'd get going, see what it was doing, and adjust the screw 1/8th turn at a time, then ride a bit further. i know everyone says 1.5 turns out...but thats really relative to everything else going on w/ your bike...its more of a starting point really.

make sure your air filter is dipped in oil, then lightly squeeze it until no oil drains out. make sure there are no cracks in the air box itself.
after that, you've basically eliminated that as the problem.

if the above tips don't resolve the problem... clean the carb... then clean it again.

lather, rinse, repeat as needed.

I'll work with the air screw a bit. I dipped the carb and cleaned it 2 times before I re-installed it, so I'm pretty much positive its clean. I need to oil the air filter still so i'll go ahead and do that as well. Is there a special oil im supposed to use?

I'm a little skeptical still that it is the fuel not moving quickly enough from the petcock into the carb. once i hit 5mph at full throttle itll die quickly, but if i let off in time itll stutter back to idle and stay running. Half throttle has similar results, while it doesn't die as quickly it still doesn't exceed 5-10mph.

Thanks for the input!

'm a little skeptical still that it is the fuel not moving quickly enough from the petcock into the carb. once i hit 5mph at full throttle itll die quickly, but if i let off in time itll stutter back to idle and stay running. Half throttle has similar results, while it doesn't die as quickly it still doesn't exceed 5-10mph.

Sure - no harm in checking it out - one quick test I do is to tie in an external source of gas.

Or take the bowl off, fill it, re-intall and give it a run. If everything is working well, a carb bowl full is enough for me to hit top speed, and get out to the main street - about 2 blocks before it dies. But if your fuel tank screen is clogged, or petcock won't open well, the bowl may never fill.

Are you using any kind if inline fuel filter? If you have the wrong kind it can restrict fuel flow.

didnt even think of it until mouse said it...
fuel filter(inside the tank) could be clogged. it happens w/ bikes that have sat for a long time.

Greetings:

The same fuel-restriction issue can occur when a granule of rust lodges in the pinhole above the float valve. This was recently reported by another Forumista. Discovery and removal of said granule resolved that member's symptoms. A top-to-bottom inspection of the fuel system is indicated, beginning with the tank. Inline "Cone O' Stone" filter can catch most culprits, but the paper element filters cause the same issue with restricted flow.

I'm having a very similar problem to this only replace 86 spree with 96 SA50P and 5-10mph with 15-20.

If I let it idle for about fifteen minutes it gets maybe 200 yards at full throttle, and if I cut that about half way down I almost make it all the way around the block(350~ yards). Retuning the carb did increase this distance drastically but it doesn't seem to effect the root of the problem at all.

I haven't had a chance to look at the fuel lines yet and I do know there's half a tank of old gas in it right now so I'm fairly certain there's junk in the lines somewhere.

forgot to mention this, mine shows a marked improvement if, when it's already starting to stall, I turn down hill, it goes from about to stall to gungho in about five feet, and this is a really shallow hill